This invention relates generally to roller bearings and more particularly to inverted bearings with roller retainers piloted on flanges of the inner race.
Current inverted cylindrical roller bearings, having the rollers on the outside of the race, are made by forming a sleeve on a press to provide a lip at each axial end. The sleeve is heat treated (hardened and tempered), and an axially split roller cage, or retainer, is filled with rollers and wrapped around the sleeve. The cage edges are then joined to retain the roller complement on the sleeve.
This process yields serviceable bearings, but it requires several non-value-added steps which drive up manufacturing costs and introduce risks which contribute nothing to the performance of the finished bearing. The roller retainer (cage), after assembly on the sleeve, requires welding or mechanical fastening. This presents an opportunity for misalignment of the edges of the retainer, distortion of the retainer and the roller pockets, and possible thermal damage to the sleeve and/or the rollers. These discrepant conditions must be corrected by rework which, if unsuccessful requires that the assembly be scrapped.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present inverted radial roller bearings. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.